What's in a cup of tea?
by imnodoctor
Summary: one shot involving Mio, a cunning Tsumugi, and some tea.


**Author's Note: **short little one-shot i thought of. takes place after the "date" episode...please review!

"I'm telling you Mio…Mugi is so adorable!"

Mio frowned at Ritsu's description of her play date with Mugi. The fact that the blond may have made a not-so-subtle move on Ritsu was adding more…concern towards Mio's perception of her. She may not have been entirely sure why it was concerning, but she was certain something about Mugi's behavior lately had been off. She couldn't ask the blond about it herself of course, but Ritsu's gushing over the phone practically forced her nosiness into action.

"Say Ritsu, don't you think Mugi has been acting weird lately?"

"Huh? Like how?"

"Well…for starters she always starts daydreaming during practice and wakes up with that creepy smile on her face."

"I think her smile is pretty cute."

Mio deadpanned. This wasn't going so well.

"What about how she always gets excited when Sawako wants to play dress-up again?"

"But she's always been like that Mioooooo!"

She doesn't always try and get you to kiss her Mio thought smugly to herself. She jumped as she heard the front door slamming, signaling her parents were back from their night out. Sighing, she glanced at her still-unfinished homework, which seemed to be undoing itself as her conversation dragged on.

"Listen Ritsu, I need to get back to finishing my homework, but I'm telling you, keep an eye on her. Something about her is off."

"Only if you let me copy it tomorrow!" Ritsu was very adept at extorting homework out of Mio. But given that Mio would certainly let her copy it out of guilt, it seemed like a fair price.

"Sure, whatever. I'll talk to you later."

"Byeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Mio snapped her phone shut, realizing that her instructions to Ritsu had been worded rather poorly. She picked up her pencil and hurriedly rushed back into her homework, hoping to push all Mugi-related thoughts out of her head. Studying may not be fun all the time, but it can definitely serve as a good distraction.

Sighing contently, Mio took a seat at the clubroom table. It had been a rough night churning out the rest of her homework, and she was ready for a nice bit of relaxation. Her subconscious had been plotting against her sanity since her conversation with Ritsu, but it was nothing some snacks and a warm cup of tea would have problems handling. Her dreams throughout the night had somehow centered around Mugi doing very uncharacteristically-Mugi things – the weirdest of which featured the blond girl attempting to run her over with a car while screaming "Speed up or please exit from the passing lane, Mio"! Clearly her brain was short-circuiting and needed to be refueled. As if on cue, she noticed Mugi approaching with a tray full of snacks of tea.

"Eat up everyone, today's special is Pearl Milk Tea with a side of cheesecake!" Mugi said with a sugary smile as she set down a tray filled with goodies. As soon as she set it down at the table, she practically skipped back over to her "kitchen", content to let others have first crack at the snacks.

In what seemed like a blur to Mio, hands began to grab at the tray as if they were frantically ripping meat from a carcass. Looking up, she saw a mirror image of Yui and Ritsu with cake crammed into their mouths while Azusa sweat-dropped very noticeably.

"Yui! Ritsu! Don't eat so fast!" Azusa practically whined, as Mugi took her seat with a grin still plastered on her face as she seemed to gaze at Ritsu.

The two girls looked at each other and offered a smile up as an apology, since their mouths were still stuffed. Rolling her eyes, Azusa reached out and took a small piece of cake to nibble on. Mugi sprung into action and began to distribute cups of tea to everyone: first went to Ritsu and Yui, lest they end up choking on cake. She then poured one for Azusa and one for herself, ready to let everyone enjoy their delicious food.

Mio blinked.

Mio continued blinking, wondering if she was still dreaming or possibly invisible. She cleared her throat.

"Um, Mugi", Mio began apprehensively.

"Oh my gosh, Mio, I forgot to bring you a cup!" Mugi spit out along with some tea. "Please, let me fix you a special cup right away!"

Mugi ran back to her kitchen as Yui whined that she was special and would like a special cup too much to everyone's laughter. Mio turned her eyes to Mugi, who appeared to be hurriedly mixing several things together. Almost as if on cue, Mio's now-dark subconscious took over her thinking: wouldn't Mugi normally sacrifice her own cup to Mio and go make one for herself? What was going to make Mio's cup special? What exactly was she mixing into her cup now…

Mio kept her eyes trained on Mugi as the blond made her approach with a single cup of tea, her smile seemingly doubled in size. Mio turned her eyes to the door. There was no way to escape before Mugi arrived. She closed her eyes tried to calm the storm in her head. Mugi was NOT trying to poison her, there was no way that was possible, it was all just a side-effect from the weird dreams she had. Mugi set her cup down with a flurry of apologies, and Mio gathered the strength to open her eyes. She mumbled a small 'thank you' and stared straight down into her cup of special tea, terrified that her end may lie within it's ripples.

Mio lay in bed pondering the day's events. Yes, she had greatly over-exaggerated the threat Mugi's tea posed to her well-being, but it was not her fault! Subconscious signals about your impending demise can't just be ignored, even if said signals are a little far-fetched. She was confident no one had noticed how weird she acted during their "practice", or at the very least no one had mentioned anything.

She began to fret. The reason she was acting weird was Mugi's fault. In an effort to highlight the blond's weirdness, she was the one acting like a freak. Snorting at the irony, she decided to just forget about what had happened and focus on something else. Things certainly weren't going as planned, so it may just be best to abort the mission now. Ritsu was either oblivious to Mugi's actions or didn't care, and either way, it shouldn't be any concern of Mio.

With new resolve in hand, Mio smiled for the first time that day. She really was just over-analyzing everything it seemed. Maybe now she could start working on some new lyrics or bass lines….

FUWA-FUWA TIME FUWA FUWA TIME FUWA FUW-

Mio grabbed her cell phone and flipped it open to find a text from Mugi. It was slightly odd that she would be sending a text this late, so Mio braced herself for the worst.

"Hello, Mio. Would it be possible for you to meet me in the clubroom before classes start? Thank you!"

For a few seconds before her mind began to race through all the terrible situations that could happen tomorrow, she admired what was probably the most grammatically perfect text message she had ever seen. But once those precious seconds were over, so was her sanity for the rest of the night.

Walking out the door of her home, Mio remained stone-faced. On the bus, her character betrayed no emotion. When she stepped onto the school grounds, she radiated ice. If someone were watching her, they would have thought this young girl had no emotion, no feelings. That she was just a cold, calculating being. Inside however, Mio was terrified. Absolutely frightened. Never mind that one of her best friends over the last four years simply wanted to meet with her privately, this was much more serious than that. All the emotions and innuendos Mio had been thinking about were about to burst through to her perfectly docile exterior. Does Mugi really have a thing for Ritsu? Is the sweet-hearted blond actually after her life? Was it possible Mio would never again leave the school grounds again? No rational thought was present in Mio's panicked state. How she was managing this calm exterior was impressive, but maintaining it really only reinforced the idea that she needed it, that something….scary was about to happen.

She stopped in front of the club door. There was no evidence anyone was in there at this time, but the door was slightly ajar. Mio tried to peer through the crack while seeming inconspicuous, but only got a view of an empty couch. She straightened herself, took a deep breath, and tried to will up the strength to open the door.

It didn't work.

Her breathing began to get quicker, and she started feeling a little dizzy. Her calm exterior was crumbling, fast. She reached up a shaking hand to the door knob, gripped it as best she could given the circumstances, and pulled. Hard.

The door flew open and smacked against the back wall. Mugi, who was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea, actually jumped up in surprise before quickly sitting back down. Mio's face flushed bright red at her actions, not really intending to make that grand of an entrance. She put her head down and hurriedly took a seat at the table across from Mugi.

"Care for some tea, Mio?" Mugi said rather bubbly.

"Um, yes, thank you", Mio replied curtly, anxiety practically bleeding from her words. Mugi took out another teacup and quickly poured it for Mio.

Mugi smiled and set her tea cup down in front of Mio. 'How to do this…delicately' she mused to herself. Mio certainly wasn't one for confrontation, but Mugi was aware that even the timidest of people could make a scene when love was involved.

"Mio, the reason I called you here was to ask…no tell you something I've decided", Mugi began. "I think it would be fair for me to be up front and honest about it to you, since we both have the same goals. I would like to keep it fair and civilized, and though someone's feeling may get hurt, I believe it would just be better for all parties involved."

Mio looked straight ahead at Mugi, confusion now the dominant emotion in her eyes. Whatever the hell Mugi was talking about, it didn't make much sense. She might not be trying to kill Mio, but she was definitely planning something. Mio felt so tense that she could barely move, feeling almost paralyzed.

"The truth is Mio, we both have the same desires. And it's not fair for any of us to deny them, or to try and bottle them up. I think that in the long run, we'll all be happier." Mugi practically radiated light at this point, as her speech neared its zenith.

"Mio, we both have feelings towards Ritsu, and while we're going to be competitors for her love, I do want us to remain friends. I know you may be upset with me now, but I hope you understand why I have to obey my heart in these matters."

A sharp ringing from above cut their conversation short. While the school bell may have stopped Mugi's words, Mio's thoughts were still churning.

"I need to get to homeroom, Mio, but I'll see you after classes today", Mugi said while gathering her bag. She smiled at Mio as she stood up, and walked out of the room without looking back.

Mio sat stiff as a board, though her temporary-paralysis was gone. She looked into her untouched cup of tea, hoping again to find some calmness in its serene ripples – but all she could see was her reflection looking back at her, even more confused than she was.

-how do i know that's Mio's text message sound? magic, wicked wicked magic.


End file.
